“If you go into our hunting country, our people will wipe you out.” — Lakota warning to trailblazer John Bozeman Like most trouble, it started over gold. More precisely, it started over a route to the gold. The Bozeman Trail, scouted in 1863 by Georgia prospector John Bozeman and mountain man John Jacobs, was an offshoot of the  Overland … [Read more...] about The Bozeman Trail War — Part II — Opening Gambit

Blame it on climate change. In the mid-19th century, the Little Ice Age receded, and the ecology of the Great Plains began to change. The rich, buffalo-supporting grasslands grew dry and the herds, already disrupted by the mass emigration of American wagon trains, migrated out of their usual haunts. The Lakota felt the change in their very … [Read more...] about The Bozeman Trail War — Part I — Spoils Of Conquest

By Rick Schwertfeger Captain, Frontier Partisans Southern Command, Austin, Texas   Kit Carson, The Long Walk, Skin Walkers, The Navajo Witch Purge, alcohol. What do they have to do with this exceedingly pleasant place on a hot day in May? Kit Carson. It is said that the mere mention of his name can elicit a curse on the … [Read more...] about Don Lorenzo Hubbell – Iconic Southwest Indian Trader

I spent more time and energy than I could afford on Tuesday morning fuming at the grotesque spectacle of Nike pulling shoes with the Betsy Ross Flag emblazoned upon them because Colin Kaepernick has “concerns” that it is a symbol from the era of slavery. I decided that the appropriate approach is this: Marilyn made this flag when she was … [Read more...] about Betsy Ross Flag

Played a tipi-raising in Sisters last Saturday. If that ain’t a Frontier Partisans gig, I don’t know what is. Lovely spread that is home to a hemp operation, great food, delightful people, who appreciated the music. Played solo, which is unusual and good for me. * Also had the best round of golf I ever shot on Saturday … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — July 2019

By Greg Walker (Note: Greg Walker has offered up an op-ed on the controversial war crimes case involving Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher. Gallagher has his defenders and his detractors — just as Lewis Wetzel did on the Ohio Valley Frontier in the 1780s, or Breaker Morant did in 1902. For a historical perspective on charges of … [Read more...] about Why Eddie Gallagher Won’t Take the Witness Stand

The discussion during my Warriors of the Wildlands presentation on Juan Cortina on June 12 swirled around matters of clan loyalty, feud, masculinity, and the determination to hold your land or bleed out on it. One of the participants said, “You know, all of this makes me think Yellowstone.” Yes, he was talking about My Cowboy Soap Opera. I told ’em … [Read more...] about Taylor Sheridan: Frontier Partisans Bard

The Robert E. Howard podcasters over at Rogues in the House scouted up a bit of Conan-related intel last week. They noted that the role-playing game creator Modipheus Entertainment has just released a new sourcebook titled Conan the Scout, taking the Cimmerian beyond the Black River for frontier adventures in the Pictish … [Read more...] about Conan The Texas Ranger

  Having run off down a sidetrail into the Bozeman Trail War — thanks to my fortuitous encounter with the ghosts of Captain William Fetterman’s command and the spirits of Crazy Horse and Jim Bridger — I am, of late, blessed with extraordinarily vivid dreams of the Riders of the High Plains. These are fed by the magnificent images rendered … [Read more...] about Lakota Dreams

“When I was young among our nation, I was poor. From the wars with one nation or another, I raised myself to be a chief.’ — Red Cloud The first thing that must be understood is that Red Cloud was an epic Frontier Partisan badass. Like the great Shawnee Tecumseh, he was named after a meteorite or comet. And like Tecumseh, he would become an … [Read more...] about Red Cloud — Mighty In War